Door stop



July 9, 1957 v ZAPOTOCNY DOOR STOP Filed March 1, 1954 INVENTOR. VLADIMIR ZAPOTO C/VY ATTOH NEYS.

gatgt Ofi lCQ 21,798,755 Patented July 9, 1957 DOOR STOP Vladimir Zapotocny, Lorain, Ohio Application March 1, 1954, Serial No. 413,149

3 Claims. (Cl. 292-342) The present invention relates to door stops and, more particularly, to an improved stop for releasably holding a vertical door in selected adjusted positions relative to a stationary surface, such as a floor, spaced therebeneath, and including spring mechanism operative to maintain the stop resiliently in a non-interfering condition when not used to check movement of the door.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide such a spring-loaded door stop of simpler and more economical construction than the prior stops of this nature with which I am acquainted. Another object is to provide a stopper member of unique design which permits the use of a swinging arm pivotally mounted for movement about a stationary, as contrasted to a shifting, axis to move the member into a door-holding position in which it is wedged between the bottom edge of the door and the surface therebelow and to a rest position in which the member is sufliciently elevated so as to permit normal opening and closing of the door.

Those stops provided heretofore which operate as wedge checks either do not use swinging arms for the wedge elements, thus necessitating relatively complex spring means for moving the same to non-interfering positions, or employ arms having shifting pivotal connections with the supporting brackets to afford the necessary clearance for movement of the stopper device, likewise complicating the structure. With my construction, however, a rigid pivotal connection may be employed, thereby greatly simplifying the operating parts of the device. Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is an edge elevational view of one form of my door stop, as attached to a vertical door and operative to prevent movement of the same;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of this stop; and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the stop taken along the approximate centerline thereof.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the stop there illustrated is secured to one side of a vertical door 10 which is hinged in conventional manner, not shown, to swing above the floor 11. The bottom edge of the door is, as usual, spaced from the floor surface.

The stop comprises a base or bracket having an elongated flat body portion 12 arranged vertically on the door side and secured thereto by means of suitable fastening elements, such as'the screws 13 passing through apertures in the respective ends of the body portion. At each side of the base, centrally thereof, an arcuate ear 14 projects outwardly at right angles, the two such ears, therefore, being opposed and parallel to each other. Supported by and extending between the ears is a hinge pin 15 to which an arm indicated generally at 16 is pivotally connected near its upper end. As mounted on the door, the pin 15 is substantially horizontal and the arm, therefore, swings generally vertically.

Arm 16 is bent near the middle thereof to provide two longitudinal sections 17 and 18 having a fairly large included angle therebetween. The uppermost section 17 is of general U-shape cross-section to provide parallel side walls 19 extending substantially over the length of this section. The side walls are spaced by the width of arm section 17 such that they respectively overlie the inner surfaces of the ears 14 when the arm is arranged, as shown, with the walls directed generally inwardly toward the base. Aligned openings are provided in the side walls 19 in the upper end regions thereof, and the hinge pin 15 passes through the same to provide the pivotal connection between arm and base.

The lower section 18 of the arm is of a slightly reduced width and has a stopper 20, preferably formed of rubber or other yielding material, attached at its free end. The stopper comprises a substantially cubic body portion having an upper surface 21, an outer surface 22, and a bottom or floor-engaging surface 23. Both the bottom surface and the lower portion of the outer surface are preferably serrated, as shown. A slot is formed in the upper central region of the stopper body and extends interiorly thereof substantially at right angles to the upper surface 21. The slot is approximately the same size as the arm section 18 and is intersected by a rivet 24 passing through the stopper body and the arm when the latter is engaged in the slot. Extending from the inner side of the body portion of the stopper is a wedge portion 25 having top and bottom surfaces 26 and 27, respectively, both inclined inwardly as they project out from the body of the stopper.

With the noted right angle engagement between the lower arm section 18 and the stopper 20, the angle between the upper and lower arm sections is such that the floor-engaging surface 23 of the stopper body is spaced to the rear or outwardly relative to a line drawn perpendicularly from the pivotal axis of connection to the plane of such surface. As a result, when the arm is swung downwardly to the door holding position shown in Fig. 1, by placing a foot against the stopper and pulling the door on the wedge portion, the floor-engaging surface is not beneath the pivotal axis. The wedge portion 25 is engaged by the bottom edeg of the door and distorted downwardly to hold the door against movement by a wedging action.

In order to provide automatic withdrawal of the stopper to a rest position in which it will not interfere with normal swinging movement of the door, a simple wire spring 28 is looped about the hinge pin 15 and tensioned outwardly against the arm section 17 and the body 12 of the base. When the door is released by being pulled off the wedge portion, the arm will, therefore, be swung upwardly by the spring until its upper end abuts the base. The upper end of the arm is bevelled, as shown, at an angle such that it will uniformly engage the base in this rest position and thus firmly limit the upward swinging of the arm. The U-shaped cross-section, of course, increases the rigidity of the upper arm section and the uniform engagement with the base insures that accidental jarring and the like will not damage the upper arm end.

While I have shown the stopper engagement with the lower end section 18 being of a right angle nature, and the arm accordingly bent to afford the noted spatial relationship between the floor engaging surface of the stopper and the axis of the pivotal movement, it will be apparent that the same relationship can be had with other arm and stopper assemblies.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated'in any ofirthe' following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention: 7 V i 1. A door stop comprising a base, an arm pivotally attached near one end to said base for swinging movement about a stationary axis, and a stopper at the other end of said arm including a body portion having a substantially flat floor-engaging surface and a wedge portion extending therefrom generally toward the base, the top and bottom surfaces of such wedge portion being inclined inwardly as they project from such body portion, the stopper being spatially oriented by the arm relative to the pivotal axis of the latter such that a line drawn perpendicularly from the axis to the plane of the stopper floor-engaging portion intersects the plane at a point in advance of such portion as the arm is swung toward the base.

2. A stop for releasably holding a vertical door in selected positions of adjustment relative to a stationary surface spaced therebeneath, comprising a base adapted to be attached to a lower side region of such door, an arm pivotally attached to said base for swinging movement about a stationary horizontal axis, the upper end portion of said arm being of general U-shape in crosssection and bevelled at its free end at an angle such to abut uniformly the base when the arm is swung to a predetermined rest position, a stopper of resilient material carried at the lower end of said arm and including a body portion having a substantially fiat bottom surface, said stopper further comprising a wedge portion extending from such body portion in the general direction of the base with its upper and lower surfaces inclined inwardly, the stopper being oriented spatially by the arm relative to the pivotal axis of the latter such that a line drawn perpendicularly from the axis to the plane of the bottom surface of the stopper body portion intersects the plane at a point in advance of such surface as the arm is swung toward the base, such wedge portion being adapted to be wedged between the bottom edge of the door and the stationary surface therebeneath when said arm is swung generally downwardly to a door-holding position, and spring means operative to urge said arm rotatively to such rest position, whereby the arm when released from door-holding position is returned automatically to its normal rest position, the stopper in such rest position being held elevated by the arm so as not to interfere with movement of the door.

3. A door stop comprising a base adapted to be attached to a lower side region of a vertical door the bottom edge of whichis spaced above a floor, an arm pivotally attached near its upper end to said base for swinging movement about a stationary horizontal axis, a stopper of resilient material at the lower end of said arm including a body portion having a substantially flat floor-engaging surface, said stopper further comprising a wedge portion extending from such body portion in the general direction of the base with its top and bottom surfaces inclined inwardly, such wedge portion being adapted to be wedged between the bottom edge of the door and the floor when the arm is swung generally downwardly to a door-holding position in which the stopper floor-engaging portion overlies the fioor, the lower end of said arm extending at an angle relative to the pivotally connected upper end thereof such that the stopper body portion is spaced outwardly of a line drawn perpendicularly from the pivotal axisto the floor when the arm is in such door-holding position, and spring means operative to urge said arm rota tively to a rest position in which the stopper is elevated so as not to interfere with movement of the door, whereby the arm when released from door holding position is automatically returned to such rest position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

